Raising Resilient Bees:
Natural Beekeeping Courses
Level 1: Beginner/Intermediate & Level 2: Advanced
We're Joy & Eric!
We’re Joy & Eric! For more than 25 years, we’ve been in close relationship with honey bees—learning the hard lessons, the quiet mysteries, and the real-world strategies that help colonies thrive and build resilience.
These courses come from one simple truth: bees do better when we stop forcing them into systems that fight their nature. Our work is rooted in Natural Nest Beekeeping, a beekeeping approach that mirrors a wild nest: starting small, expanding downward (nadiring), supporting natural queen rearing, and preserving uninterrupted brood comb so the colony can organize itself as it evolved to.
Level 1 (Beginner/Intermediate) makes this approach practical and accessible, helping you build confidence with bee cycles, seasonal flow, observation-based inspections, and natural varroa management. Level 2 (Advanced) is for going deeper: refining hive-reading skills, expanding colonies, working with foundationless comb, making splits, and developing long-term resilience strategies.
We're excited to learn together!
Course Preview 👇
Learn How to Raise Resilient Bees
________________
These beekeeping courses are designed to be an adjunct to our book Raising Resilient Bees, and teach you how to work with the natural intelligence of the hive. Instead of memorizing rules or relying on rigid formulas, you’ll learn how to read what the colony is doing, understand why it’s happening, and respond with management choices that support resilience, vitality, and long-term sustainability.
Across both Level 1 and Level 2, you’ll learn how to:
- Understand the hive as a living organism — behavior, brood cycles, nest structure, and seasonal rhythms
- Build a management approach rooted in observation, timing, and bee biology
- Make better decisions with less stress during inspections (what to look for, what matters most, what to avoid)
- Support colony health through nutrition, environment, and natural strategies
- Understand key challenges (like Varroa, robbing, swarming, queen events, and colony stress) through a natural-beekeeping lens
- Grow into confident stewardship — whether you’re keeping one hive in your backyard or expanding into a small apiary
Two Levels. One Learning Journey.
Choose your entry point: Level 1 for core skills or Level 2 for advanced technique and planning. Either way, you’ll learn a cohesive approach based on our book Raising Resilient Bees & our Natural Nest Beekeeping approach.
|
Raising Resilient Bees Natural Beekeeping Course: Level 1 (Beginner & Intermediate)
$475.00 USD
Level 1 (Beginner/Intermediate)
Level 1 is best for brand new and early-stage natural beekeepers (or anyone wanting a strong natural-beekeeping framework). You’ll learn the why behind natural beekeeping and how it differs from conventional approaches, then build a clear understanding of who lives in the hive, how the colony functions, and what to look for during inspections. We’ll cover queen basics, seasonal rhythms, and the practical setup of Natural Nest Beekeeping—plus equipment choices, frames, and transitioning bees into new gear. You’ll also learn varroa management through a natural lens, sustainable feeding and honey handling, and how to respond to common challenges like robbing, predators, swarms, queenlessness, and combining colonies.
Outcome: You’ll leave Level 1 with a grounded understanding of the hive and a calm, season-by-season approach to decision-making—so you know what to do, when to do it, and why.
Level 2 (Advanced)
Level 2 is best for experienced natural beekeepers ready to deepen strategy, skill, and long-term planning (Level 1 is helpful, but not required). You’ll sharpen your ability to read hive behavior and make decisions based on deeper patterns—then move into advanced management, colony expansion, and working confidently with foundationless comb. You’ll learn practical, real-world approaches to splits and colony divides, natural queen rearing as a resilience strategy, and what “breeding for resistance” actually looks like in practice. We also explore deeper varroa strategy, brood disease context through a natural-beekeeping lens, and broader stewardship topics including pollination, biodynamic principles and honey, organic history, and value-added products.
Outcome: You’ll leave Level 2 with a more strategic, long-view approach—stronger reproduction planning, deeper hive-reading skills, and tools for building more resilient stock over time & growing your apiary
Bundle Offer — Level 1 + Level 2 (Best Value)
The bundle is for beekeepers who want the complete journey—from strong foundations to advanced stewardship—using the full Raising Resilient Bees approach. You’ll start by building clarity and confidence with inspections, seasonal rhythm, queen basics, natural nest structure, and resilient management—then progress into advanced strategy: foundationless comb, splits, natural queen rearing, resistance-focused thinking, and long-term planning for healthier colonies year after year. It’s the most cohesive way to learn because each level reinforces the next, giving you both the “why” and the “how,” step-by-step. You also get the added bonus of being with us throughout the entire beekeeping season!
Bundle Price: $900 (save $50 vs. purchasing separately)
Includes both 5-week cohorts, weekly live calls with Joy & Eric, lifetime access to all materials, and access to the community forum.
Course Curriculum
A guided learning path based on Raising Resilient Bees—designed to help you understand the “why,” master the “how,” and gain confidence season by season.
Level 1: Beginner/ Intermediate (Build Confidence & Core Skills)
Module 1: Getting Started — Orientation, the “why” behind natural beekeeping, and how to begin with the right mindset and setup.
Module 2: Inside the Hive — Colony roles, queen basics, seasonal rhythm, and how to inspect with confidence.
Module 3: Natural Nest Beekeeping — Core framework + hive structure, frames/equipment transitions, and natural varroa foundations.
Module 4: Sustainable Practices — Feeding choices, honey handling, and managing common stressors like robbing.
Module 5: Natural Queen Rearing— Swarms, queen events/queenlessness, combining colonies, predators, and an intro to natural queen rearing.
Sign Up for Level 1 🙏🏻Level 2: Advanced (Go Deeper into Strategy, Resilience & Growth)
Module 1: Advanced Overview — Deeper hive behavior, “evolutionary wisdom,” and how to think strategically as an advanced beekeeper.
Module 2: Advanced Management — Expanding colonies, dialing in management choices, and working confidently with foundationless comb.
Module 3: Splits + Queens + Resistance — Splits/colony divides, natural queen rearing as resilience, what breeding for resistance looks like, and tracking genetics with QR codes.
Module 4: Varroa + Brood Health — Advanced varroa strategy and brood disease understanding through a natural-beekeeping lens.
Module 5: Stewardship Beyond the Hive — Pollination, biodynamic principles/honey, organic history, and value-added products.
Sign Up for Level 2 🙌🏻What’s Included (In Both Courses)
________________
Each course is hosted as a 5-week cohort experience designed to give you structure, support, and real-time guidance as you learn.
You’ll get:
- 5 pre-recorded modules (released week-by-week so you can learn at a steady pace)
- Weekly live calls with Joy & Eric for hands-on learning, Q&A, and deeper teaching. The calls are on Thursdays at 12:00 PST to 1:30 pm PST. Every call will be recorded so if you miss the call you can watch the recording. Generally, the calls start with a opening statement, a short lecture, and then about half the call is left for Q & A, and getting to know to each other.
- Access to a community forum to connect with peers, share wins + challenges, and keep learning beyond the cohort
- Level 1 & 2 Natural Beekeeping Course Certificates upon completion
_________________
Cohort Dates + Weekly Schedule
Level 1 Cohort Begins Friday, April 24th
Level 1 runs as a 5-week guided cohort with weekly module releases and live calls with Joy & Eric for hands-on learning, Q&A, and support as you apply what you’re learning in real time.
Level 2 Cohort Begins Friday, July 24th
Level 2 is also a 5-week cohort with weekly modules and live calls—designed for deeper strategy, advanced management, and long-term resilience planning.
Sustainable Practices
This course emphasizes on natural, sustainable methods that prioritize the well-being of your bees.
Expert Guidance
Learn from experienced beekeepers who have successfully implemented these methods.
1-year access
Once purchased, you'll have access to the course materials for one year.
Suggested Pathways & Pricing
_____________
Option A: You are starting a new path into Natural Beekeeping
Begin with Level 1, then continue into Level 2 for the full journey—from strong foundations to advanced stewardship.
Level 1: $475 → Level 2: $475
Option B: You already have experience in Natural Beekeeping
Jump straight into Level 2. You can always circle back to Level 1 later if you want a clear, confidence-building refresh.
Level 2: $475
Option C: You want the whole system
Bundle Level 1 + Level 2 and move through the complete Raising Resilient Bees approach from start to finish (plus learn with Joy & Eric for an entire beekeeping season!).
Bundle (Level 1 + Level 2): $900 (save $50 vs. purchasing separately)
Kind Words From Our Community
Don Tipping
Farmer & Seedsman, Siskiyou Seeds
"Much akin to the wondrous distillation that honey bees perform while alchemizing nectar from flowers into concentrated pearls of sweet, nutritious, and healing honey, Joy and Eric have distilled decades of earnest, caring, and arduous work tending their apiaries into pearls of valuable wisdom. "
Sarah Red-Laird
Founder & Executive Program Director, the Bee Girl Organization (BGO); past president, Western Apicultural Society.
"Beekeepers and the bee-curious alike will revel in this fresh offering from long-time honey bee stewards Eric and Joy McEwen. In a conversational and approachable fashion, this husband-and-wife team gracefully offers up solutions to some of the most difficult contemporary beekeeping problems."
Rob Keller
Napa Valley Bee Co.
.
"Eric and Joy McEwen cover all the bee basics and the challenges one should expect when getting started. They offer a very genuine depiction, through real-life experiences, of what it takes to manage bees sustainably...a testament to regenerative beekeeping by way of responsible practices, understanding of place, and most of all, the appreciation of deep bee ecology."
Frequently Asked Questions
What is “Natural Nest Beekeeping”?
Do I need to take Level 1 before Level 2?
How do I know which level to choose?
When do the cohorts start?
How long is each course?
What’s included in the course?
Are the calls live, and are they required?
What if I miss a live call or fall behind during the cohort?
Will these courses teach Varroa management?
Do I need specific equipment to take the course?
Can I bundle Level 1 and Level 2?
What’s the refund or cancellation policy?
Ready to learn natural beekeeping in a way that actually changes how you see the hive?
Choose your entry point — Beginner/Intermediate (Level 1) or Advanced Strategy (Level 2) — and start building resilient colonies with clarity and confidence.
